ABI aims to cut road traffic accidents with new restrictions for young drivers

Published: 12/10/2012

Young drivers should have to learn to drive for a minimum of12 months and face restrictions in the first six months after passing their test, according to the Association of British Insurers (ABI).

Under the radical proposals, designed to reduce the number of road traffic accidents, drivers under 24 would be banned from driving after drinking any alcohol, going out on the roads between 11pm and 4am and carrying extra passengers in the first six months.

The ABI would also like to see an end to intensive driving courses where people can pass their test after just a week.

According to Nick Starling, Director General of Insurance at the ABI, the most common situation for a road traffic accident is a young driver driving “late at night with friends in the back of the car”.

Despite accounting for only one in eight driving licence-holders, a third of people killed in road traffic accidents are aged under 25 while 27 per cent of personal injury insurance claims over £500,000 result from a crash involving a driver aged 17 – 24.

Content correct at time of publication